Off The Grid
by SilverCrystal029
Summary: A second battle with Apocalypse opens a tear in time, threatening to destroy everything. Rogue absorbs the professor and Jean, then launches herself at the chasm. Logan grabs on and they successfully push Apocalypse through, saving the world. And, resurface together in the The Savage Land. Powerless and filled with tension, Rogue and Logan must survive. (Post-Series)LxR
1. Beach Trip

When Rogue opened her eyes, all she saw was a familiar, hairy man looking down at her. He was blocking sun (which she could feel was sweltering), his brow wrinkled as she finally came to. She felt burning sand beneath her, and a stomach full of water. Rough hands carefully peel her up, weary not to touch her skin as she struggled to get her bearings. It didn't feel like most of Rogue's uniform survived.

She tries to crane her head to look at herself, the sun blinding light irises. It doesn't matter, when she leans up she immediately begins to expel water and choke. When she can look up, she sees Logan examining their surroundings, his body rigid and tense. Her tired brain can't process where they were before this, but she doesn't think she and Logan had a beach trip planned. "L-_Logan?"_

_"Easy,_" He grunts. His uniform is mostly sheered away, revealing a muscular chest covered in hair. It's extremely hot, wherever they are, so he doesn't mind. When she sits all the way up, he chances a look at her. He's thankful she's _technically_ an adult, and there was _technically nothing_ wrong with his thoughts. It still felt wrong, his eyes inadvertently tracing the white curve of her neck. The remaining black fabric stretched tight over her chest (leaking white through). Hair wet and curling, fast. Her skin perfect and blemishless, starting to turn red in the sun.

This wasn't the time to muse about how she's turned from a girl into a woman before his eyes. A tough, courageous, beautiful woman. Wild, like him. They are stranded, and with no way to contact the school, it might as well be on the moon. "'Bout time you woke up." Logan says, his easy tone betraying his worry. He couldn't do this alone. Rogue eyed him as she coughed, struggling to remember what brought them there. Where is everyone else? The jet? "Need someone to help me figure this out."

Rogue snorts at that, rubbing an aching head._ "Please_, Ah don't remember how we got here. Don't think Ah'll be much help." She takes a look at her appearance, seeing most of her milky legs are revealed. _"Aw_, great. Now, Ah'm a walking death trap." He doesn't meet her stare when she looks at him. "Logan?"

"Rogue," She can't place the strange look in his eye as she fiddled with curly hair.

"Huh?"

"I gotta tell you somethin'." She can't imagine what this could be given their current situation. Logan hated talking, anyway.

"Oh no, Ah don't like this..."

"We touched." Considering they both look appropriate for the beach, she's not surprised. She had no lingering essences of him on her mind. She's just glad her naughtiest parts seemed to be covered.

"Well, hopefully that'll be the least of our troubles..." She says, examining her knuckles with a frown. She couldn't imagine how the transference of his powers would even work.

"I said we_ touched_, I didn't say you absorbed me." He quirks an eyebrow when she manages to pale, further. He'd practically had to swing her over his back and fight his way through the waves. They'd been desperately pressed against each other, and she hadn't taken any of his powers. He'd convinced himself she either died in the battle or from the stress of whatever spat them out. _'Where in the hell are we?' _

"What..." He looks back out at the waves foaming on the beach, the strange palm trees and vegetation around them. He's pretty good at geography, but he hasn't a guess where they've washed up. His senses were gone, and one other thing he's accustomed to having. His healing factor. He feels naked without his senses, but at least he'll always have his weapons.

"Hank used to talk my ear off, about this..." He smiles wistfully, praying he sees him again. "Geo-magnetic pulses and _forcefields._.. Anyways, they can nullify X-Genes. A natural, occurring geological event. Or so, he hypothesized." Rogue looks around, lizards scampering out from leaves.

"Think the professor will buy me an apartment, here?" He rolls his eyes as she searches for any sign of civilization through wet, silver strands. There wasn't any. "Maybe, it was just a fluke." He nods in concession.

_"Maybe_. But, I'm inclined to think I'm right since I don't have any powers." Rogue gasps and covers her face when he reveals two blood soaked hands. "No healin' factor. No heightened senses. Feelin' pretty_ regular,_ right now."

_"Oh no."_ Rogue says, they're both horribly ordinary. Helpless. At the mercy of whatever was waiting to be found. And, stranded who knows how far from home. Does the team even think they're alive? "What're we gonna do, _now?"_ She watches as he stands and offers a hand, standing mutely when their skin met. Nothing happened. She's warm. He pulled Rogue gently to a stand, staring into deep, charcoal eyes that hold an expression she can't place. "Logan, what's goin' on? Ah'm freakin' out. Why don't Ah_ remember?_"

He frowned at the fear he sensed, but didn't smell. "I dunno, but I'm thinkin' we better figure it out."


	2. Together, At Once

"We're runnin' out of options!" Logan roars over the wind and chaos around them. Behind Apocalypse were colors and images they'd never seen, before. Time, itself. The beginning, the middle, the end. Everything, at once. The first mutant returned from which he came, a crack in space. He is stronger, but tearing into the continuity of everything they know is his last ditch effort at leaving a mark on the X-Men. His enemies. The ones who defeated him.

If he can't have it, then _no one_ can. Kitty is barely hanging on on to Piotr's iron arm as they stand in front of the X-Jet. The earth turns in upheaval as it tries to suck them in. If they retreat, everything as they know it will end. If they stay, everything as they know it will end. They've been at this crossroads, before. They had to think of something, and fast. They'd had seven years of relative peace (that involved sentinel occupations, Mutant Registration, Anti-Mutant lobbyist groups, forces from space, genetic experiments, and mutant only viruses to name a few things) until his return.

Seven years that weren't long enough for any of them. They've had too much work to have kids. Get married._ Live_ their lives. This wasn't supposed to be how their lives ended.

Magneto stood among them, his uniform black as he fought alongside his friend and rival. "Apocalypse has done what he will. This tear in our time has has opened, we_ must_ destabilize it, somehow. Or else." A purple sheen covered the man as he held his hands forward, deflecting the debris and objects and trees hurdling at them.

"But, how!" Charles screamed over the wind, howling at them. Ororo hangs on to the back of the chair, staring at images of the X-Men in other lives. "There is no one..." He sees the look on his friend's face and knows what he's about to do. His fear sends a slap to Jean's face as she begins screaming unintelligibly, trying to wrench from Scott's arms as he held her back. "Magnus, no. You can't. We_ need_ you, the world after this_ needs_ you!" Logan looks between the mutants as his children begin to scream.

"May it send him back to hell, Charles." Kurt is anchored to his sister, hands clutching her trench coat that's flapping in the wind. When Kitty flies through the air, she catches her with one arm. Kitty is light as a feather to Carol Danvers' strength. They watch in horror as Charles cries and Magneto disappears in the rift. It flashes and grows smaller, but it does not disappear.

"Fool. Enjoy being shredded by eternity. A proper punishment." Apocalypse chuckles as the X-Men watch in horror. "Prepare to be flung through time, as_ I_ have. For hundreds of years, where you sent me! I've waited forever for this moment. Just to see the looks on your faces."

"Yeah, and we're gonna do it, again." Scott seethes, unhooking himself from Jean at her prompting.

"Jean, we_ have_ to give it everything we've got. We... Are the only chance." Charles stare is anchored where Magneto has disappeared. Likely, forever. Years ago, he'd never imagine the man giving so much for someone else's dream. "Are the last hope. Everyone else must retreat." His eyes are locked with En Sabah Nur's. "There's nothing more they can do." He joined hands with the red head, both determined not to let their world end.

"There must be_ somethi_-" A broad hand ushers her back.

"Go, 'Ro. Everyone needs you." Logan's stare is hard, and it was certain he would not be leaving either psychics' side. "Now, get everyone packed up before this place blows!" She pivoted to the air, Scott watching as concrete and turf began to rip up from the ground_. "One eye_, you too. They got it!" He screams, his claws slicing through refuse as Charles and Jean focused.

He turns, throwing hand signals quickly to get his team moving._ "Rogue_, we're retreating!" He screams, tossing a look back at his fiancé. When everyone was safe, he'd be right there with her.

"Everything I've told you not to do... Not to be, Jean._ Embrace it._ Be it. You must." He looked back at an unapologetic Apocalypse, determined to destroy them. Her unrestrained strength was their only hope.

Jean felt herself try to tackle time, maybe the one thing her powers couldn't beat. She felt the red hot flames, the vitality coursing within her. But, their world was still broken. "I'm _trying,_ but..." She clenched her teeth, tight. It wasn't enough. She felt the steady drip of blood from her nose. She saw Charles', too. Maybe, if she still had that uncontrollable force in her. Maybe then, she'd do it.

"I know. We are using our powers together, but we need to be one entity! Synthesizing our powers..._ One being.._.The strongest telepath and telekinetic." Charles shuts his eyes, and Rogue sees the tear roll down his cheek. Hears his words. _'Not together...'_ She thinks, looking down at her own hands._ 'At once.'_ Like she could, if she touched them both. The ground trembles beneath their feet as Kurt prepares to teleport them.

Kitty is watching Jean and Charles, knowing what they planned to do.

"Let's get back to the jet," Kurt tries, unshed tears in his eyes. "There's... Nothing more_ ve_ can do..." Kitty wrapped her arms around herself as she watched the destruction.

"B-But... I mean, we can figure out s-" Another rocking beneath them quieted her. Time was running out. Rogue watched the team move around her, flowing like ants to the jet. Logan stood right beside Charles and Jean, with no intention of leaving.

_'What do we do, professor. I'm in it, till the end. If it gives them... Even a moment longer.'_ Lord knows she feels her powers have taken some of that time away. Charles smiles at peace, beside her.

_'What we can, Jean. And if that is just give them more time, however long it is... Then, that's what it is.'_ Jean nods, no trace of fear on her face._ 'Old friend, could I convince you not to throw your life away?'_ He only smirks at that.

_'You know I'm not goin' anywhere, Chuck.'_ He's never been afraid to meet his maker, even less with them at his side.

_'Then, it looks like we are about to see my friend, very soon.'_ Jean's forehead erupts into a magenta flair as Charles pours his everything into Apocalypse's mind.

"You are weak, Charles Xavier. I have won."

"Have you? You want to wipe us out, everything we are. But, look at us. We won't let that happen. This is _all_ I ever wanted for the world."

"Rogue! Nightcrawler! Shadowcat,_ now!"_ Scott screamed from the jet, anxious nobody is pulled into the tear. He watched the rift start to spread, again. Rogue pushed her sibling and Kitty towards Piotr.

"G-Go. With Colossus. Ah'm checkin' in with Logan." Neither of them are surprised by that answer. In a few moments, she hears the familiar sound of his teleport. Using the sleight of hand and stealth she picked up from Remy, she begins wiggling out of her gloves. Carefully, so nobody will notice. Once again, the southerner has enough sense not to be present when Apocalypse is. She hopes he knows what they went through to save the world.

Not even Logan notices when she comes up behind them, stumbling on her feet as the ground shakes. This is it. How unfair her end came at Apocalypse's whim. She would face him, this time._ 'Thank you, guys.'_ Logan jerks when Jean screams, and then Charles. Rogue takes their place, her jacket flapping behind her. Jean is slumped in his hands, but he's already arguing.

"Marie,_ no._ Damn it!"

"Get them to the X-Jet, please. Make sure_ everyone_ is inside." He looked down as his feet began to shake. "We don't have much time." He's already got them both in his arms and running before she's finished speaking. When he realizes what's happened, Kurt teleports outside the jet to meet Logan, searching frantically for his sibling.

"V-Vhat happened? She's not staying,_ is she_?" He reaches to teleport them all, but Logan quickly unloads both psychics on him.

"Not goin', your sister isn't thinkin' straight." He sees the questions on his face. "Go, Kurt! _Now_!" When he hears a 'bamf', he turns to face Apocalypse. Scott scrambles from the front of the jet to Jean's side, brushing the red hair from her face. He examines Charles as well, and looks around to see who isn't there. Logan was missing, and so was Rogue. _'Oh no,' _

"No." He says, rising when Kitty kneels beside Jean and the professor. "Storm, _open the jet!_ We're not leaving them." The X-Men had sacrificed more than enough for the world. He looks around in shock when the engine starts, lights flashing on the console. The plane begins to hum. "Ororo!"

"I'm not _doing_ it," She says, her hand covering her face. "The jet is doing it, on it's own!" Once Kitty realized both Logan and Rogue intended to stay, she ran from Piotr's side and crashed straight into the wall of the jet. The force repelled her back, falling into Laura who shoved her away. Rubbing her head, Kitty tried again but was bounced back onto her butt.

"I can't phase..." She says breathlessly, looking around at Hank and Piotr. Kurt shut his eyes and tried to teleport. His mist flashed around him, but he went nowhere. He tried again. And, another time.

"She... She von't let me teleport!" Ororo shakily lowered herself in the pilot seat as they all realized what she was doing._ "Rogue!"_

"She wouldn't, she..." Kitty says, shaking her head. She would, she exactly would.

When Jean twitched and moaned on the ground, Scott stopped to her side. "Jean, Jean? Honey, we need you right now. We need you to use your powers so we can get Rogue and Logan in here. They're still outside. Can you do that?" She groaned, but immediately began feeling out with her powers. She was more than familiar with her teammate's touch, and she knew what she planned to do.

_"Ngggh_... Scott, I..." She sat up slowly and met his scared eyes. "I can't."

_"Ah know what Ah'm doin'."_ Kitty covers her face when Rogue's voice comes out of Charles._ "Ah'm sorry. This is the only way."_ Kurt grabbed the edge of his suit, struggling not to shake him as the portal outside began to cover the sky. A pink light erupted from where Rogue stood, the X-Jet raising higher. She had been taught to step up when their powers had the solution, there would be no talking her out of it, now.

"No, it isn't! Ve can_ find_ another vay, Scott said so! Vith all of us! Please..." Kurt shouted, tears streaming down his face. "Any vay, but like this."

"Rogue," Scott declares through the ships intercom. Jean closes her eyes and places a hand on her head, despite her headache. "Open the jet, so you guys can get back in here. We'll think of another plan." His voice is shaking as both she and Logan get smaller on the ground. "Rogue, pleas-"

_"A better world, everything we've ever fought for."_ Logan fights against the devastating power, desperate to get to Rogue's side. He couldn't stand to see Jean and Charles be sucked out of existence, he would die before he let her die, alone. Even when she was a child, he'd been willing to die for her. Got bitch-slapped by Apocalypse trying to rescue her. And, he'd do much more. Someone had to, someone had to make her believe there was a point to life. He drags himself along the blistered ground.

Apocalypse stands still, seemingly unafraid._ "Ah see it. We're almost there. Don't stop fighting for it, no matter who we lose along the way. This is my contribution. Please, don't worry about me." _

She wishes Logan was on the plane. Safe. Fussing over Kurt and all her friends. But, she knew deep down he'd never leave her. And, there's nothing she can do to make him stay. She's about to die, but she smiles. He's right behind her. _"Ah'm not alone." _A tear slips down her face.

"You really think you'll defeat me, again?" His cold eyes bored through her, the one who defeated him.

_"Ah know Ah will." _

Apocalypse shields himself when Rogue glows even brighter, determined to finish this old baggage once, and for all. He shouted as she began to compel him to move closer to the rift while simultaneously closing it, her hands held out in front of her. _'This is my only chance!'_ The X-Men watch, pounding on the windows of the jet as Rogue tries to force Apocalypse through. He reaches out a grey, morphing arm that wraps around her like a tentacle, despite her wrenching.

"I will take you,_ too_." He declares, a sinister look in his eye. Logan barely grabs onto her jacket as she rockets forward in a blaze of light.

_"Look_," Kitty watches in shock, Laura pressed to the glass as Apocalypse, Rogue, and Logan all disappear. "No..."

_"Stay away from my home."_ Everything went black as the rift closed on the other side. In an explosion of light, they began to scream as it faded from sight. The X-Men raced across the field when the jet opened, desperate to get there before it disappeared, but it was too late. Ororo and Scott ran through where it last was, leaving nothing but rubble behind. Jean traced the ground where they last were, and then hesitantly reached out with her powers.

An iridescent dust floated around all of them, the only indication that something had happened. Rogue and Logan were nowhere in sight.

"I..." Her voice choked up as she tried to speak. "I don't _feel_ them..."

_"Goodbye."_ Charles says with a smile in Kurt and Kitty's arms. Recognition hits him hard in the few moments, after. Apocalypse. Jean. Rogue. _'No...'_ He looks around in shock, already knowing who won't be there. The X-Men turn back to him as Kurt slowly stands. The sun tries to peek out of gray, turbulent clouds. It was like it all never happened.

"No... _They..."_ The telepath shuts his eyes when he realizes a distinct lack of both Rogue and Logan's signatures. Ororo places a solemn hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"Sacrificed everything," Jean says, looking up at the sun as though she were in a trance. "So we could keep fighting for the professor's dream." Why her, why was Rogue always saving_ her_?

"They're not gone, Jean." Charles says, staring curiously at his hands. "Logan hasn't surrendered. He's gone to bring her back." He hears sniffles and sees the forlorn looks. He understands, but he doesn't think that it's the end. Certainly, not for them. "They will return to us." Scott bent down with his face covered, spying part of Rogue's choker in the dirt. He reaches out and grabs it, tightly. Daring fate to test the X-Men's resolve.

"We won't stop looking for them."

* * *

Logan can see it easily in her eyes, when she says she doesn't remember, she doesn't remember. She'd remember that she'd made the ultimate sacrifice, likely saved their world. That he didn't (not even for a second) consider letting her die cold and unloved. Alone. That life seemingly gave them both a second chance for their deed, washed up together on a beach. Powerless.

Before his claws emerged, he prayed she'd burned her powers out and she wasn't dead. He can't describe the sensation of feeling her skin. Even after her accident with Carol. Sleeping, unconscious, her absorption still activated at touch. He can't describe the fear he felt when her skin felt like any others' as the ocean (whatever ocean it was) tossed them, violently.

She must see the worry shadow his face as they move, quickly and carefully from the beach through lush green lands. Teeming and buzzing with life, and Logan has no idea which kinds. He looks like a caveman, remnants of his uniform clinging to him like shorts. He's already using scraps of fabric to make and fashion tools, making bands to keep tools. This land may have taken his senses, but it could not claim his instinct. Logan was synonymous with nature.

"Logan?" Her voice is soft, she sounds tired. He pauses, halting the dialogue in his brain thats turning to bolster their survival. He doesn't speak, sweat trailing down both their chests. He bites his tongue not to watch it drip between her cleavage. Somehow, he'd made it through the waves in his brown, X-Jacket and he draped it around her. It wasn't helping the problem with his eyes.

Her hair is a full of fuzzy curls, fluffier than he's ever seen the girl style it. And, he swears her white skin is already starting to tan. But, what he can't get used to is that the water has wiped her face clean, like a slate. All the years he's known her, he's never seen her without that dark makeup, on.

He doesn't speak, but he gives her his full attention. "Somethin' wrong?" He can tell she feels foolish for asking when they have so many things on their plate. But, they know each other too well not to notice.

"_Besides_ this forced vacation?" He pulls her to hide behind a tree when he hears leaves rustle. "Not much." Rogue tries not to let her face turn red as she presses into the negative space of his body. She never imagined _he_ would be the first to touch her skin since her powers manifested. She definitely never expected that. He taught her how to ride bikes (the right way). How to be a pool shark, hustling enough cash to keep her from needing a part time job. How to drink like a fish and never get a hangover.

Even if unexpected, it felt right. He hated having to read her emotions instead of smell them. He missed her scent. Smelling her calm, a certain calm he only smelled when they were together. "We have no idea what's local here. Could be,"

"What?_ Dinosaurs?_" Rogue snorts, unable to resist the urge to tease him. He growls back, his ability to snarl apparently not his mutation.

"Keep it up, you can feed yourself, tonight." She winces when he shoots his claws out, the pain obvious in his posture. A fowl had wandered through the leaves, looking around as Logan watched it, carefully.

"Ugh, Ah might be a vegetarian if we ever get back." She can't wait to tell Kitty that when they make it back._ If_ they make it back. Where are they? He holds back a snicker as he crouches in the leaves. Day one in this strange land. So far, so good.


	3. The (2)Loners

"Come 'ere." Grey eyes trailed upward as the sun sank beneath the horizon. Rogue had been shivering for the past hour, but she wasn't going to say anything. She didn't mind Logan's touch, but she still wasn't used to it. Or still aware that they_ could_ touch. He can tell by the way her eyebrows raise that it surprises her, each time. He gestures close to himself when she just stares. "I dunno how, but it's dropped like forty or fifty damn degrees. You're freezin'." She doesn't object, still a bit numb about being marooned on an island.

Her skin lit like a strobe, she stood and moved closer to the man. She leaned in when he wrapped an arm around her and relinquished herself to his hold. It felt so natural. Sure, she'd made a habit of spending time with the Logan. The loners. The ones left over after everything. She could've gone to college after high school (like Kitty, or Jean), but she wasn't sure for what.

Kurt took a few years off from the team to go to Germany, study the church and his faith before he subscribes to a lifelong battle. Scott stayed on, taking exclusive courses with Logan to be (extra) certified to teach team classes and Danger Room sessions. Kitty took a two year course in computer sciences on the West Coast. Bobby played Rugby in college, and Piotr took night classes for art. Many of the students went on to have enriching, fulfilling lives post school.

But, Rogue was never sure what she wanted to do (besides being an X-Man). They'd always identified with each other. But, she didn't really need his heavy paternal energy the older she got. Kitty and Jean, most of the girls welcomed it. Craved it. But, it became clear once fate brought her and the Avenger together, it was no longer what she needed. She didn't know what she needed, all she knew was that she needed to figure it out.

Rogue is so grateful to all of her concerned friends, but they wanted to steer her grieving instead of letting her process it.

She had a hard time dealing with Carol Danvers, her mother, and the repercussions of her actions; she's barely an adult, herself. The more the people around her treated her like something was wrong, the worse it got. She was acting out and more withdrawn than ever. She needed how it was, before. To be treated like an adult who could break the sound barrier with a punch. Fly, faster than the speed of sound. That held another person's life in her hands. She needed to be treated _normal._

He still remembers her face when he sat down beside her and offered her a beer. She didn't think anyone would ever treat her like that, again. It was either like she was made of glass, or she was dangerous. Something was different after that day. He wasn't sure if he was just answering her silent pleas to be looked at as an adult, or the fact that the girl was out there in the world with powers of her own. He just began to appreciate her a certain way. Silently, of course.

He stokes the fire and examines the cuts of fowl as she settles beside him. He feels the goosebumps on her skin and savors the feeling. So soft, even as they tough it off the grid. Before he can help himself, he brushes his arm through soft, curly hair.

"How long do ya think we'll be here?" He'd been waiting for her hoarse voice to break the silence. He chances a look at her in the moonlight and regrets it. He never guessed she had such pink, rose petal looking lips underneath all that makeup. If they make it back, he's going to take his claws to all of it.

"Not sure," He says, fashioning a leaf as a plate as smoothly as if they were home. She's secretly been starving, unsure of when she last ate since she doesn't remember the mission that brought them there. "We have no powers, so..."

"That rules out Cerebro." She finishes, taking a bite of the juicy meat. "Thank you." He would do it for anyone, but Rogue's never experienced anything like someone killing with their bare hands so she doesn't go hungry. He feels weak and disgusting at having to eat and sleep, unsure of how he'll manage with Rogue there. The way she looks at him makes him feel important. Powerful, even though he can feel himself aging.

He choses to nod, finding words hard as the fire's light dances off of her skin. Her dang skin. He'd never seen anyone with her complexion. Even after she got a healthy routine at the institute, it really became clear how sheltered and abused by Mystique and Destiny she was. Perched and hidden until her mutation came. She was unable to retain pigment, even after his outdoor training. Being stranded in the sun is the was the only time he saw it change color.

"Ah'm glad, it's with_ you_..." He stops chewing mid bite to look at her, afraid of what her gentle words might say. He can't really face the real way he feels about her, he's not sure he knows how she feels about_ him_. Sure, she liked being treated like an adult. But, she could still look at him like a father figure and be repulsed by a real attraction. After the whole Risty debacle and watching her and Remy from a far, he's not sold on whether she even _likes_ men or just feels like she's supposed to. The memories of her father are a knot that reduces her to a sobbing mess by telepathic prodding.

He'd amputate a limb before he made Rogue uncomfortable. Even if that meant living in silence. "You understand, how_ important_ it is for me... Even once, to experience this." She can tell by the way he holds her hand, only when he needs to but with a lot more than purpose. So much feeling, like he feels that if she goes home she might be giving it up.

It was like he knew every pressure point in her body. He just smiled. "You write the checks, I cash 'em." He says, his eyes glowing by the fire.

_"This is so unfair!" A much younger Kitty is trying her brown hair down, for a change. Logan is frowning at a pink shirt she thought was long enough to wear as a dress with a jacket (it wasn't). She'd snuck out and come back smelling like approximately two beers and a shot he couldn't place. Entirely too much alcohol for Honor Roll student, Kitty Pryde. There are angry tears in her eyes, but Logan isn't moved. _

_"You snuck out to go to a college party. You're a senior," He snarled. "You know the rules, half-pint. They apply to you, and frankly, I think this is a long time comin.'" Rogue watches, shrouded in a dark flannel and wearing black lipstick, that night. _

_"She drinks Fireball in the school!" Kitty half bellows when she sees her smirk. "She flies out to bars and plays pool, all night!" _

_"Ah can't get drunk, remember. It don't even matter." Kitty rolls her eyes. Logan never punished Rogue, anymore. In fact, he praised her social nature and joined her on gatherings. They went on camping trips, trips to indian reservations and to Japan, shooting pool and to go hunting. While everyone was doing whatever else, they were spending time together._

_"Alcohol impairs people like you, Kitty. Y'know why I drink it all the time?" She folded her arms. _

_"Because your healing factor heals it, I know." _

_"Three weeks, kiddo. And, that's bein' generous." When she opens her mouth to complain, he points a finger. "I mean it." Huffing, she stomped back to the mansion while they watched. _

_"And, where are you guys going?" Rogue shrugged. _

_"To the bar. To shoot pool." Kitty threw her hands in the air. _

_"Typical."_

"There was no way I was lettin' you get sucked in here with Apocalypse, alone." He says, seriously. He's not sure why he's felt so responsible for her. Since he met the wayward kid on the Blackbird, he's always felt better when she was near. "You did a brave thing. You've been... Tormented." His eyes narrows as he remembers the unpleasant memories. The signs he missed, despite his obsessive patrolling. By him. "Probably still the most powerful foe we've faced, and you stood up to him. _Twice._" He's admired her since she was a child, brave enough to face the end of the world.

"You don't stand up to bullies, they don't go away." She says, her eyes back on the fire. She had experience with a lot of them. "Ah hope he really is gone." There was no way to tell. She couldn't go through this again, that was for sure. It seemed so unless they were cast in some elaborate afterlife. Her cheeks burn red when she meets his eyes. "Just did what ya taught me." She says, leaning closer to him. He snickered at that, taking a bite of his food.

"Not me, I taught you to be smart." She scowled playfully at him as she settled into the crook of his body.

"Grabbin' onto me wasn't so_ smart."_ She shoots back haughtily, her earlobes burning when he gazes down at her for a long time. _'Wasn't it?'_ He looks into the vast, jungle silhouette.

"Meh, coulda been worse." He chuckles. "To pay off my debt initially, Charles used to send me recruitin'. No wonder the school was empty besides Scooter and Jean. I'd rather take my chances, here." Rogue rolled grey eyes. She saw right through him. He loved mentoring and training the kids. Especially, now that he's grown and lets himself. Watching them get faster, smarter, and stronger. He might not admit it, but she knew the truth.

She blew on her bangs in exasperation. "Yeah, yeah. Recruitin' ain't that bad." She tried not to get comfortable pressed against the man, his own natural musk somehow pleasant. One day, her uncontrollable powers would be back. And, maybe this could never happen, again. She'd gotten used to her predicament, but this showed her what she missed out on.

"Close your eyes." He grunted, listening to the sounds around him as closely as he could. "You're exhausted." She hadn't wanted to close her eyes long, and he could relate.

He bit back a smile when her brow worked into knots. "You gotta sleep,_ too."_ She nagged. He couldn't exhaust himself, not right now. "Ya gotta eat. _Rest._ You're like my Tomogatchi, Ah gotta make sure you are taken care of." He exhaled loudly, not even trying to understand what it was she said. She sure had a way of making him feel old.

"Catch a few when the sun's risin'. I'm an expert._ You,"_ He growled a little. "Need rest. You can't watch my six if you're too tired." He says, his annoyance rising. She clamped her mouth shut in silent agreement. The girl was never good at sitting still. Something squawked in the darkness.

"Sure you don't want to sleep, first?" She could barely keep her eyes open. Her knees were tucked, leaning against him as her head dipped. He moved a strand of white hair our of her face.

"Goodnight, Rogue."

* * *

She slept surprisingly well once he wrapped his arm around her tiny frame. She wasn't Katherine tiny, but she was much smaller than the way she carried herself. The way she fought. Maybe, that was what endeared her to him. She appeared to the institute a high school junior _and_ a red belt. He used to sit up at night, praying Mystique hadn't had enough sense to prime her to be a mole. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Rogue was tough because she'd lived her life pre-institute in survival mode. A lot like he had. Charles had granted them both their humanity back.

She almost could've forgotten she wasn't in a bed, but asleep on the rainforest floor under a leaf canopy. But, as he gently roused her, it became apparent something was up. '_Ah'm not in bed, Ah'm in the dang jungle.'_ She groaned, chasing his form when he pulls away. If he wasn't so tense, he would've laughed about it. "Rogue,"

"Longer..." She mumbled, shielding her eyes from the light.

"No, stripe. We gotta get up and go._ Slowly_." The 'slowly' made her bloodshot eyes shoot open. She kept them on him as she slowly obeyed, knowing her hair was an unruly mop atop her head. "Nice. There we go." He pulled her, his body language not permitting her to look behind her. She can tell by his intense stare that it's something, something bad.

She's barely awake as he pulls her slowly, his eyes anchored behind her. "Just tell me what it is." She asks, waiting for him to turn and book it.

"Are you sure? I don't know if you want to kno-"

"Ah need to know."

He breaks into an uneasy smile as she heard a hiss. "You guessed right, yesterday."

"Not ringin' a bell."

"A dinosaur. Two, actually." He has to pinch her so she doesn't turn or shriek. .

"A big_ lizard_?"

"No, dinosaur." Rogue blinked.

"Logan, don't fu-"

"I'm serious. One of those small, fast ones and a flying one." She paled at his description. "And, they're_ watchin_' us... But, they aren't comin' any closer. Don't know why, but Ah don't think it's a good thing." Rogue swallowed hard, wishing Kurt hadn't dragged her to the last Jurassic Park movie. Or, that she didn't have an irrational fear of dinosaurs (that was irrational until just now). She watched Logan use his human senses to the best of his abilities.

"You think there's a_ bigger_ one and we're on it's territory?" He flashed a toothy grin as the ground started to shake. '_Please don't let it be a giant one.'_

"Could be," He answers, gently pulling Rogue as far from the prehistoric animals as he can. He can't wait to tell Hank all about this. He'll probably write a book and win one of those prizes. "All I know is we better get outta here."

"Ah don't think Ah can do this... Ah didn't pay enough attention to Kurt's video games." He hushes her as she begins to panic. She's tired, she has no idea where she is or when she'll be home.

"We got this." Logan is quick to assure. The girl could do anything as long as she didn't doubt herself. "Don't think about it. Tell yourself you got it." A primal roar shook the ground, again. Logan knows he's gotta think fast. Whatever they feel, owns this place. "We're gonna need to find a cliff..." He begins, looking around quickly. He'd been eyeing the topography of the island and there were many cliffs, rivers, and waterfalls.

"A _what?_" Rogue grips his wrist tight, her palm sweaty.

"Gotta make these things lose our scent. Hope we aren't the only people on this island." He tugs her to the sound of water, the stomps getting more frequent.

"Listen, Ah think Ah'm fresh out of luck when it comes to jumpin' from cliffs into bodies of water." He can see the fear on her face as she clearly thinks about her and Scott's field trip. "Logan, Ah can barely swim." She'd always used a psyche who was better, to help. For once, her mind was curiously silent without her powers.

"Relax," He says, holding her stare as he squeezed her hand. "I've got you."

_Logan lost his grip on Rogue's jacket when they entered the rift. The clawed man is shouting for her the minute he loses contact, but he sees she's unconscious. He reaches out as she starts to drift further and further, wiped out from the struggle of pushing Apocalypse through. He's helpless to stop her as she slowly drifts farther away, her body slack. "ROGUE," They had to stay together. They have a chance to survive, just reappear elsewhere. But if they got separated now, he knew he'd never see her again. "Rogue, wake up! I'm comin'!" _

_He screams, using debris and chunks captured from different times to propel himself. He had to get to her in time. He sees a light shining at the end, knows it's going to spit them out, somewhere. He reaches desperately, pushing himself to get to her. _

_"I've got you," He calls, her fingers just in his grasp. He grabs hold of her right as they appear over the Savage Lands._

_'Ah remember..._' She thought, studying Logan's face which hasn't changed since she met him.

"Hang on, Rogue." She nods, her throat too tight to speak. Her knuckles are white as she holds him, tight. He grins at her as they jump, hand in hand...


	4. Einstein

_She knew he was in a good mood because he was doing card tricks. Flicking his cards in the air with Jubilee's fireworks, just putting on a show as Bobby made an impromptu ice skating rink. Rogue only acted annoyed, watching along with some of the students as the sun set. When the lawn cleared besides the two, he approached her with a cigarette dancing on his lip. He studied the heather grey sweatshirt she cut the collar off of and the white skin showing through. _

_It was always like this when he came back. All smiles and bouquets. She didn't mind if he left, she just hated the wondering if he'd come back. He could do everything but commitment, that's what he told her. But, that was about to change. He pulls her to a stand, shrugged in a dark shirt and his trench coat when he's sure they're alone. He was about to turn everything she knew about him upside down. _

_"Y'miss, Remy?" He asked, pulling her closer by the waist. She pouted, but the red of her earlobes showed she wasn't all that mad. _

_"No." She asserts, leaning her head carefully in the crook of his neck. "Six months..." _

_"Remy sorry. Actually..." Her eyes grow wide when his posture becomes fidgety. Nervous. She doesn't know what to think when he fumbles with something in his pocket. "Remy keep runnin' away, and not makin' his'self clear. Don' mean Remy wanna be wit'out ya. Remy just roam, it how he lived his whole life." At twenty three, (especially at the school she is filled with smart, talented, and beautiful girls that can be touched) she didn't expect this to be happening. _

_Her lipstick is still purple, but her eyes are lined in soft grey, today. Making her eyes look more like sage green instead of billowing smoke. "Rogue..." Her chest hitches when he reveals a very expensive, white gold ring. She eyed the dark green emerald centered in the middle. "Peridot ya birth stone, but dis shade of green be ya favorite." _

_Spot on, the ring is everything she's ever wanted (it's even prettier than Jean's, and nobody thought that was possible). He hasn't said proposal words, but Rogue doesn't really expect that he will. She might not need them as she contemplates slipping the ring on a gloved finger. "Ah don't know what to say..." _

_"Remy need ya to know I'm serious, Rogue. And... Don' see myself traipsin' all over the world to find anyone else somethin' like dis. Ever. Remy need you to know that-" _

_"Ah know that," She says, clasping her hands in his. "Trust me, A-" _

_"Den let's go." She can see the hope in his eyes. That it could just be them against the world. "Things settle here, we go. Travel. See de sout', whole sout'. Go home. France. Wherever you wanted to go. We do it all, chére. You makin' me an honest man. A superhero." Only her mutation is keeping her from mashing her lips against his. But, there was a problem. There was still a fixation on one thing: leaving._

_Rogue loved traveling. She took solo trips, trips with her boyfriend, trips with Logan. But, the institute was her home. The only one she's ever had. "Ah want to do all of that, with you." She draped her arms on strong, broad shoulders. "But, the school year starts again, soon... And, the New Recruits are in the middle of trainin'. Scott wants Logan and I to do a survival trainin' course soon..." _

_He frowned. He loved the girl. He loved the school, too. He just wasn't sure that his place belonged there. If he was a hero. An X-Man. He'd always be a thief, first. Rogue's thief, he hopes. "Chére. I wanna start our life. I wanna give it to ya. You give dis place all of you, let me return it. Let's go..." He left off that he didn't want to be Scott and Jean. Pushing off their wedding and relationship; entire lives to rear mutant orphans. Organize mutant vigilantes and save the world every week. _

_One of them would die before they ever saw them married. Remy wasn't gonna wait for virtue to take her away. She unhooked herself from him, worry lines settling into her face. The time old argument. "Runnin' away. That's what it always comes down to. Is it me, or do ya just want to someone to come with you?" He laughs, bitterly. He wants to steal her away and she still doubts him._

_"Rogue, I t'ink everyt'in' of you! Remy," He tries to bite his tongue, but she sees it. _

_"No. Say it. Ya copped up a ring and expect me to run away from all my responsibilities. Say it!" _

_"I want ya to have a life, Rogue. Wit Remy. Before it gets cut down. We cuttin' it awfully close." Mutant relations were not getting any better. Mutant Registration is in the process of passing, and other legislation is looking bleak. Those are just one of their many problems. "Rogue, t'ings about to get a lot harder. Lot more dangerous. All Remy sayin' is that dey don't have to." She tried to get him as comfortable there as she was. Make it his home._

_"This isn't a job, this is my home." He's never had one of those, how can he understand? "My family. The only one Ah've ever had." She looks at him with hurt eyes. "You know where Ah come from, what it means to me. Ah can't just..." _

_"Rogue, you can do anythin'." He sees a gloved fist curl tight. _

_"This is my home. Ah went sixteen years not havin' a real one. Ah'm no-" _

_"Rogue, YOU my family." He grabs her forearm and pulled her forward. "We don' have de time for our own story if we don't go start it." A cigarette glows in the distance. A tear slides down her cheek. _

_"You are my family, but this IS my home." There was no solution. He flicks the cigarette onto the ground. He would stay as long as he could. _

_"T'ink about it, chére." He says, knowing full well that she won't._

_"Okay." She closes the small, velvet box in her hand and offers it to him. _

_"Hang on to it." He winces from an invisible wound as he turns and doubles back out into the grass. And then, into the darkness. Rogue stands in the dark for a long while, holding herself despite who came and talked to her. A figure smoked in the darkness until she went into the mansion.  
_

"He asked me to run away. To marry him..." Logan's mouth hangs agape as she makes the sudden declaration. She's wringing water out of frizzy hair as they sit on a large rock, hopefully hidden from their carnivorous pursuers. He can guess the answer because she never disappeared and came back with jewelry. Still, he has to wonder how he came up. "Ah get it, Charles' school wasn't_ his_ home... But, it was the only one Ah'd _ever_ had." Logan tossed her a sympathetic look, watching beads of water drip down her collarbone.

"Know the feelin', darlin'." He says in agreement. It's a hard place to leave. Still, he knows she cared about the loud mouthed cajun. And, it hurt when he disappeared (especially if this is what predated his disappearance). "Do you ever _regret_..." He cant't imagine slumming it with Gambit would've been much fun, but that was all some girl's asked for. Especially, after her life. She smiled wistfully and examined her reflection in the water.

"Ah_ miss_ him," She stared at her bare hands like it was still weird, to her. "Everyday." Logan inhaled sharply before he could help it. "But, Ah meant what Ah said. If... It was_ supposed_ to work, Ah would've went, or he would've stayed." He drops his eyes when her stare intensified.

"You're still young." Logan half laughs. "I wish things were that simple..." Then, maybe he'd be able to understand his feelings for the girl he helped look after.

"Ah'd never just leave the school... Or_ you._" The tail end of her sentence makes his eyes dart up. "The X-Men is who Ah am." He ran a large hand through wet hair, forcing his eyes into the sky and not Rogue's face. He was growing more and more worried that he'd reach out and mash his lips against her. Her skin was so soft, begging to be touched. Her eyes, so trusting. She even sent Remy away, for him. He doesn't feel he deserves.

"He didn't realize what he was askin'." Logan explains, his expression somber. "Guarantee you, he regrets it." She can't help but feel it doesn't matter, now. She wishes she never listened to Kitty and Hank's sci-fy mumbo jumbo. She's worried time exists different, at home. She hasn't had the heart to say anything to Logan, but if they're in another dimension... That could be the case.

They could be older, different, gone if they ever made it back. He catches the fearful look on her face and stands, extending an arm. "C'mon. We should keep movin'." He says, seeing how she'd been massaging a shoulder, for a while. "Y'okay?" She put on a bright smile. As okay as surviving in the jungle and leaping into moving bodies of water was 'okay'.

She scoffed as he pulled her up, forcing space between their bodies. "Yeah. Ah was plannin' a vacation jus' like this before Apocalypse showed up." He shook his head as he watched her climb slowly through the leaves leading back into the the rain forest.

* * *

Three days took a long time to pass with Logan, Magneto, and Rogue all missing since En Sabah Nur's defeat. The world had been saved, but nobody at the institute was celebrating. The school was hanging onto hope, but the main team was taking it especially hard. Kitty was holed up in a spare lab, Hank's books stacked taller than she was. Only Kurt had remained, sticking it out with her and hoping the brainiac could figure out a solution to this problem.

He felt nobody ever noticed how _brilliant_ Kitty was. At least, not when they were all younger. She was a woman now, and all would know of her intelligence. Hank and the professor were working tirelessly to find some trace of their teammates, but if anyone could have a breakthrough, he knew it was her. Her short hair was frizzy, and he'd lost track of the time and the coffee they'd had.

Maybe, this was just their method of grieving. He's too tired and worried to think, his mind drifting to all the awful things that could've happened to his sister and friend. _'God... I hope his protection extends there, friends.' _

"Okay," Kitty says, struggling to regather scattered thoughts. "Einstein said space_ and_ time are both curved." Kurt tried to nod, seeing doubles from exhaustion. "What Apocalypse did affected space_ and_ time." Her long time friend scratched his head.

"...Sure." She began scrawling frantically on a whiteboard.

"Ds squared equals Dx squared, plus Dy squared plus Dz squared. But, matter distorts this equation." Her writing became something that he could no longer comprehend as letters and numbers filled the negative space._ "Wormholes,_ Kurt. I... Think what opened up was a wormhole. And, if I can use the jet's energy data recordings... From that_ night_-"

"Go on..." Kurt says leaning forward in a grey shirt. He's unsure if she was making sense or if these were manic ramblings from lack of sleep.

"Maybe, we can open that tear again." He wasn't sure if it was crazy or genius as she turned to look at him, her eyes wide. "If we get the exact specifications right, it will take us where it took Rogue. Mr. Logan. It's... The only thing I've come up with. It's been three days, but it's progress!" She frowns when Kurt's tail doesn't lift. _"Kurt..."_

"If they are even_ still_ out there." He shut his eyes as his head dipped. "Kitty, ma-"

"Hey, you guys." Scott stood in the doorway, his brow wrinkled. He didn't look like he'd been sleeping much, either. Their leader appeared in an uncharacteristically disheveled 'X' sweatshirt. Fuzz and stubble covered his chin, and they could imagine his eyes if they could see them. "Jean, she..."

"She can't sleep." Kitty rubbed at an eye, able to predict the telepath's words in her sleep._ 'You can't expect your brain to work if you aren't sleeping.' _

"The more tired you are, the more you project." He says gently, frowning at the scribble on the board. He too sees the fine line Kitty is walking. Piotr is hidden beside him, marveling at how Kitty has taken up Logan's qualities in his absence. She'd yelled at the man's attempts to get her to rest and banished him upstairs. She was only accepting coffee and food. When the short girl turns back to the board, he moved closer. "We... Can't really sleep, either."

Jean and the brunette had already gotten into it, earlier. The telepath is trying to grieve, stay hopeful but realistic about what has happened, counsel and protect her teammates and students, AND feel the feelings around her. Tempers flared and both girls said things they didn't mean, at all. Kitty drops her marker from the board and sniffles, refusing to cry. Crying wasn't going to help Logan and Rogue. Help the professor reunite with his oldest friend. Give them their friends back.

"Did _Logan and Rogue_ sleep? When I was kidnapped and taken to Genosha? _Stolen_, by William Stryker." She can feel Scott clench his hands even if she's not facing him.

"None of us did."

"We can't just _accept_ it. That they're _gon_e! Neither of them would accept it if something happened to any_ one of us!_" Scott takes her screams, waiting for a moment to comfort her. The same words have been swirling in his head, cautioning everyone to sleep while he laid awake. Wondered, how either one of them would move the earth to bring him back. But, he can do nothing.

"Nobody is accepting_ anything_. The professor has been tethered to Cerebro, and Ororo and Hank have been working, endlessly. Jean and I got them all to sleep." His stare lingered on his blue friend, who's been silent. He can see already how the battle affected him. Kurt never gave up hope, not for anything. And Kitty's ranting wasn't like her, either. He could rely on her to think straight. "If they were here, they both would've hauled you to bed, by now." Scott smiles when she wipes at her face. "Get some rest, give it a fresh start. Tomorrow is... Another day."

"I can't sleep. For the first time since having my own room..."

"None of us can sleep with Logan, gone." He wraps a broad arm around Kitty's shoulders as she covered her face. "I don't know how, but it'll be okay." He sent Kurt a concerned look. "They know we're looking for them." Kurt looked at his hands, and he hoped so. He's lost and found out enough of his family. His foster parents were buried in Germany, and even he no longer considered Mystique his mother.

_'Ve vill pray. Ve vill keep looking.'_

* * *

She should've seen this coming. She's chest deep in water after trying to scrub the grime from the rags of her uniform. She's naked, in plain sight, but he hasn't spared a look. She'd been watching him make spears and fashion weapons with his claws and the things around them. "Dunno why I never got into weapon work, with ya. You were a red belt when you were_ sixteen_," He says, speaking more to keep his eyes trained away from her.

He doesn't want to see skin that's turning pink in the sun. The suggestion of her nudity. He can sense her offense at his cold shoulder, but he doesn't want to take the chance. His powers are gone, but an animal still waited inside. Wanted to act on mounting pressures ever since he felt comfortable being attracted to her. He saw something that others are just starting to realize.

Her package is jarring, and isolating her qualities didn't make her sound appealing. But together, she was the most beautiful, complicated, multi-faceted person he'd ever met. Someone who didn't try to understand the chaos in his mind, but _knew_ it. Who's been used to hurt the ones they love, to do the things they never dreamed of. Who was trying to outrun a darkness, one they fear is inside of them.

She taught him more about himself than she realized. _"Hello_?" He turned over his shoulder, than back. Her hair resting on the surface of the water. "Ah said because Ah can fly and knock down brick walls. Weapons would be overkill..." He chuckled, not with his overactive imagination.

"Fair enough." He stares at the handiwork of a sharpened blade tied to a branch. "But, ya can't do that, here. I know how we'll be killin' time." Rogue dipped herself lower into the water, hoping he'd look at her.

"Duh. Haven't seen any walls, yet." She pouts when he tosses a branch in the water, splashing her. She slapped her arm down, the water reaching near him but not getting the man wet. "Why'd ya do that, ya_ yahoo_?" She dunked her head underwater, and then surfaced. Logan was nowhere in sight.

"We can start sparrin' when you dry off." He called to her, just downwind. She mockingly repeated him as she hoisted herself onto a rock. She would need a second of privacy to get dressed. Why would she feel better if he was still there, even if he'd see her naked. Maybe, a part wanted him to. She felt closer than she'd ever imagined to him, in ways her mind had never thought. Maybe, didn't_ let_ herself think of him...

She stared at what remained of her uniform and wondered if she'd ever wear it, again.

"Rogue, you al-" He knew she would be fine, probably just naked when he doubled back. But, he didn't have his senses to rely on in this land. He'd rather be embarrassed than let something happen to her. In just a second, he takes in how narrow she is. The musculature she's been working on for years, but still how her body was soft. Comforting.

He doesn't really know how she manages the back problems her chest would cause, but he turns before his mind takes a turn down that road. She shrinks away, but she's frozen in place. "Sorry..." He mumbles, a massive hand block his eyes. In seconds, she's covered (as much as she can be).

_"Ah..._" She wraps a vine around her hair, growing rapidly and puffier by the second. When he's sure she's clothed, he watched her tie her hair up. Like Kitty used to, when she was young. He misses her, all of them. So much. "It's fine, sorry. Ah was zonin' out." He waits for her to be by his side before he moves, approaching a growing pile of knives and other trinkets he's managed to whittle.

"Alright. Pick your poison." He places his hands on his hips, grinning in approval at his arsenal. Rogue cocks an eyebrow.

"Sure, my pleasure..."


	5. Sweet Dreams

_"You ruined everything! Why! Why did you do it?" Rogue looks down, but her hands are green. Where are her brown gloves? Her bodysuit is green. It's not like her X-Men uniform. 'What is wrong with me...' Her thoughts are not her own, and neither are her movements. Everything her brain processes swirls in a fog. 'But... But, why?' Who was controlling her, this time? Cold, yellow eyes come to mind. 'No...' Mystique. A fight. A needle. A drug. A sleep. _

_Now, she's doing whatever she told her. 'X-Men... Please, hurry.'_

_"Ms. Marvel to Avengers base, the jet has been apprehended. None of the bombs are live." She wants to scream out and warn her, but Rogue's soul is being smothered. Weighted, by the military grade drug she's used to manipulate her._

_"Copy, that. Great work, Carol." The cocky blonde is smirking, doing what she's good at: piloting. She could complete missions like this in her sleep. That's why her team wasn't present. She was the team's closer, most of the time. She doesn't expect to be attacked returning the weapons to the military base. The operatives on board have all been subdued, mutants have nothing to do with this conflict. _

_"Now," Mystique demands in her ear piece. "You must do it, now. Touch her, hang on. And, don't you let go." The suggestible drug has left her unable to disobey. 'No... Please. Ah'll kill her!' _

_"Rendezvous in-" She doesn't get to finish the message, dropping her communicator and starting to scream as Rogue siphoned her powers. Her teammates have told her of mutants, warned her how dangerous they could be. Unpredictable. The galactic champion still hasn't met her match. She looked into her eyes and saw nothing. A dullness betraying her years. "What is this? What are you!?" The colorless girl said nothing, a green cloak falling from her shoulders as the Avenger tugged. "Get away! LET GO," _

_"DON'T," Mystique screamed back, able to hear the confrontation on Rogue's wire. "Keep holding on!" Sweat and tears leaked down Rogue's face as she struggled to fight her mother's commands. Her mind and her body were severed. Separated, as they disobeyed one another. 'No, why... Ah don't want to do this...' _

_"Let me go, god! You're killing me!" Carol began writhing back and forth before she took to the air with her remaining strength, Rogue hanging on. "I don't want to die! Not like this!" She'd been blowing off making time to spend with her parents. To do the things she actually wanted to do instead of what people told her. _

_"Rogue!" She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't make her body do something about it. More and more of the strange woman's memories began to sink into her, different than any other person's she'd absorbed. The galaxy. Aliens. Missiles. Secret missions. Red faced nazis. All of it crushed Rogue's mind. Carol's shrieking only grew louder as they sailed into the sky. She tore through the plane like it was nothing. A tin can. Rogue could feel herself grow stronger as the woman clawed at her. _

_"Let me GO!" _

_"ROGUE, answer me!" Words escaped the girl as she went high enough to touch clouds. Carol was running out of strength, rapidly. "Tell me what's going on. Now!"_

_"Why..." She gasped, the air growing thin for both of them, stinging their lungs. She didn't say anything as they both began sinking out of the air. Mystique shouted into Rogue's ear, but she didn't respond. She didn't realize that she was Rogue, and that she was talking to her. Her mind was a jumbled mess of confusion. Pain. Heartbreak. Space. None of it made sense as the screaming continued inside her mind. _

_Both women made a shattering crater that made tears spring to Mystique's eyes. How could Rogue survive? Ms. Marvel, maybe. But all her daughter's bones had just shattered, in front of her. Still, she ran to the hole as Sabretooth watched in discomfort. Rogue wasn't an unrecognizable mess. In fact, both women looked unharmed aside from falling stories through the air. _

_The shapeshifter prayed as Rogue twitched, moaning as her eyes began to open. "Rogue?" _

_'Wh-What's wrong with me?" _

_"Rogue, dear... Are you alright?" _

_"Why is she in MY HEAD?!" _

_"Who_ Rogue?_ For the love of god,"_ Suddenly, the sun was bright overhead. Logan's clammy, shaking grip was tight on Rogue's forearms. He was trying to keep her from harming herself as she thrashed. She was digging herself into the sand, flailing so wildly he was sure she would attract some predator. A little more than a week had passed, and Rogue had made no mention of her psyches. She had no memories right now, along with being powerless.

Now, he was starting to worry as her issues were on his mind. He'd hoped here, she wouldn't have to deal with them. He watched as slowly, the fear seeped out of grey eyes and she calmed. Her heart was thumping so loud he could hear it without enhanced senses, making his brow furrow. "Rogue, what's goin' on? Tell me." Only one event made her lose complete control, like that.

After Mystique drugged her and forced her to hold on, the memories proved so traumatic that Charles blocked them from her consciousness. This worked well, until a psychic like Sinister saw the knot of memories Charles had hidden. Dragging them out almost broke the girl's mind, much less left her incapable of insisting on the mission. He still had plans for the geneticist after what he put her through.

She had since integrated the memories (after a long, grueling road of work and pain), but he can still recognize the distinct scream associated with those images in her head. "It... It was _her, Logan_." His frown deepens as she struggles to catch her breath. He touches a shaking shoulder. "Carol... Ah haven't had any memories whole time Ah been here, _but._.." He watched as she wiped a hand over her face. "It was like Ah was _there._"

She needed to continue Charles and Jean's therapy. They'd been on the precipice of a break through. He would hate for her to have an episode without his healing factor or anyone to help her through it. They were deadly and devastating, and he could handle watching her go through it alone (and unable to help). The thought makes him clench a fist. "Could mean our powers are returning." She suggested when his stare, lingered. Try as she might, she couldn't shake Carol's lifeless face from her mind and she couldn't catch her breath.

_"Hmm."_ He moved silvery bangs and examined her face. She looked tired. "Maybe." He look shifts to their surroundings while she watches, absentmindedly pressing her closer.

"What is it?"

"Or, someone could be fuckin' with us." He snarls. He pulled her to a stand and she dusted the sand off of herself. "Just 'cause we don't have powers doesn't mean other people don't." She scoffed, hoping their luck wasn't that bad.

"Yeah, but why would they come_ here?_" The following look on his face seemed to say 'we don't want to know.' He eyed her gangly walk with a quirked eyebrow.

_"Sure_ you're alright?" Lord knew the girl had a habit of suffering in silence. Especially when it came to him. _'Stupid brat._' He thought to himself, even if he didn't mean it. He needed her to be straighter than an arrow in the situation they're in.

"Besides her bulldozin' a wall in my mind, sure." When his face doesn't lighten, she smiles. "Ah'm fine."

* * *

It became clear everything wasn't fine her third night of no sleep. Not just that, she woke up shrieking _every_ time she tried. The same words. Carol. Her face. _Haunting her._ None of her other psyches seemed to be resurfacing, but this one. It was like she was gaining power. And, the longer this was keeping her up the shittier she began to look. Logan cursed being without his senses, unable to detect instantly if she was ill. In danger.

He felt like half a man, and certainly in no shape to protect the girl as he's always promised to. But, his failures couldn't mount higher when awoke alone in the dark after a catnap. Rogue was nowhere to be found. He sniffed out of habit and growled when his sense of smell told him nothing. He dashed into the dark, scrambling to find traces of her trail. Tracking was a different game without sensitive hearing. Dynamite smell.

He was one man looking for a girl who could've been taken over by other personalities. He feels like his head might explode as he thinks of all the ways she could've gone, different things that could've happened to her. He's almost on all fours when he he spies pale skin in the dark, luckily still pale enough to stand out. She appears to be sleepwalking.

Her feet float on air, like Jean would when she had nightmares. But, she hovered over a raging river. If she fell in there'd be nothing he could do to save her. The girl could hardly doggy paddle. He doesn't think, his feet lift from the bank. He tackles her and clears the other side. The moment she collides with rocks, she begins to scream and sob.

"_Rogue!"_ He cries, desperately trying not to make the situation worse.

"No! No! _Leave me alone!"_ Sighing, he pins both wrists to the sediment, only to keep her from hurting herself. When he sees the blank fear in her eyes he leans up. Sick. She sits up and looks like she might bolt, but after a few silent moments in the darkness she calms down. Slowly, she seems to realize what happened as he scoots closer to her. "Ah'm sorry..."

_"Jesus_, Rogue." He swallowed bitter memories as he looked down at her. With his healing factor, he wouldn't have to sleep. Now, it happens involuntarily. Any later, and she would've washed off. He pulls her close to him before he can help it and doesn't let go until she melts into him. "This is_ escalatin'._ She's... Tryin' to..." He can't bring himself to finish, but he knows where he's seen this before.

_It reminded Jean eerily of her recruitment. Rogue's recruitment went down in history as the handbook of what not to do when recruiting. Everything that could've gone wrong did with Mystique in the mix, and it turned Rogue away from the X-Men for weeks. Yet, here they were, hoping she could talk them all into a better situation. _

_"There there..." The red head says, trying to evoke calm even though she's out of breath. Her hair is disheveled, and a few cuts line her uniform. Carol Danver's powers are like all of the X-Men's worse foes, combined. "I know how scary and confusing this all is." Her green eyes haven't left her teammates colorless face. She was beginning to think she'd never get to pay back all those favors, all those times Rogue saved her ass (and complained the whole time, too). _

_Now, she's hoping she just doesn't screw up. "The professor... Hank... Forge... They have the resources, and the labs, and the contacts to help you, Carol. You and Rogue. If we get you there in one piece..." She reads a micro-expression on Rogue's face that silences her. _

_"Jean," Scott calls in her communicator. "You gotta keep engaging, Cerebro isn't ready yet." But, she can hear what she's thinking. Not Rogue, but Carol._

_"Please." The X-Men's leader looks at his walkie in confusion when his girlfriend is reduced to begging. "Don't do this. We can make this right." _

_"I've spoken with the other psyches." Rogue says, her voice accent-less. A single tear rolls down her cheek. "There's never any getting out." Her eyes go wide when Rogue banks and dives into the East River. _

_"No, WAIT!" Jean screams, sailing through the sky to stop her. "We can help you-" _

_"She's got to go, too. Sorry." _

_"Jean, what's g-" _

_Rogue hits the river and disappears beneath the surface. The telepath pauses and cranes her hands in the sky, pulling desperately against Ms. Marvel's strength. __Not even the Juggernaut compared to the strain on her mind.__ She can feel her teammates' panic from the half destroyed bridge. It's evident what she's trying to do. 'Professor, she's too strong!' Jean groaned as she struggled to pull her back, but she didn't move. 'I, I can't move he-'_

_'Carol is physically stronger than any mutant thus discovered. You will not move her.' He responds quickly. 'She is determined to kill her, try moving the wa-'_

_'Ororo! Help!' Their combined efforts raised the moisture around Rogue, revealing her on the seabed. The X-Men watched in astonishment at the moisture floating through the air. Ororo grit her teeth as she helped Jean direct it, upwards. Kitty points at the air when clouds began to gather over the sky. "Look! That's not Storm!' Rogue was standing, tears on her face as she looked through eyes that weren't her own. _

_"Leave me alone. Let me die!" Lightning flashed around her._

"I gotta get you back to Chuck." He isn't surprised when she scowls.

"This ain't_ on_ you, Ah got _myself_ sucked through time. Remember?" She loved always being able to depend on the man, but she hated feeling like his responsibility. Without her powers removed, she's stronger than he is. And, she never let him forget it. He challenges her with a hard look in his eye as he hoists her in his arms.

"Why do ya think Ah came along? No more vacation days? I came to bring you home, at least not let ya die, alone." He bites at her in a gravelly voice. He huffs when she squirms out of her grasp, her bottom lip jutting.

"Look, even on my_ worst_ day, Ah don't need you to carry me. Or take care of me when there are dinosaurs and giant bugs. Ah'm from_ Mississippi,_ remember?" He folds his arms when she sags with exhaustion. _'Stubborn girl...'_

"You finished, yet?" Being ornery required energy, which he knew she had none of.

"Mostly." He wrapped an arm around her when she covered her face. "Ah'm_ scared,_ Logan. If she takes over..." He jerks back like she's hot to the touch when she rubs his knuckles. "Don't let me-"

"Be a cold day in hell before we start thinkin' like that." He tells her with a hard face. He'd turn up a born-again Christian before he turned his claws against her. "You're too stubborn to be taken over, anyway." He adds.

"Ah'm not stubborn..."

"Remember when you did _every single_ one of my courses to prove that women were not genetically predisposed to being inferior to men? Passed 'em, too. With flyin' colors." He's satisfied when Rogue smiles, a little. Then, she shook her head in disgust.

"Even Scott kind of believed that..." Logan chuckles as he thinks of the X-Men's leader. He wouldn't even mind seeing him.

"Lot of bets lost, that day." He turns when Rogue starts to chuckle.

"And then, the professor found out..." They laughed for a short moment before the heaviness of the situation fell on them. They may never see these friends, again.

"Ah_ miss 'em,_ Logan." She looks down when his giant hand curls around her's.

"Me too, darlin'. Me too..."

* * *

"All hail,_ Zaladane!"_ She is a slender, feline like woman with hair as black as night and an indigo dress. Known for being as quiet as she is powerful, nobody was surprised when she fell in league with the mysterious stranger. White of hair and found wandering, he was seen to have abilities. The crowd of primitive people stood in front of them, the only two like them. With powers.

"Do you still feel it?"

"Yes, Joseph." Her psychic powers were expansive there and on the astral plane, and she could sense the disturbance brewing in Rogue. She wasn't having nightmares, Carol's presence was strengthened in the there in the savage land. When she could, a battle would brew in the peaceful lands she and Joseph were trying to create. "She has one body, two souls." He stands beside her shrouded in ripped, blacks cloths.

"The vampire..." She nods, solemnly. "There is a chance that even with the position of the electromagnetic poles-"

"She could indeed recover her powers." He threw his hands to the sky and the crowd watched as purple sparkles showered above them.

"I want her here." The dark haired woman nodded.

"I'll send them."


	6. Here's Lookin' At Ya

Logan never thought he'd see the day when Rogue woke up before him. Her fingers tapping him awake. He slept so shockingly little due to his mutation. He was always reading. Fixing something in the mansion. Training. Patrolling the grounds. He only ever slept when Jean and Ororo fussed. Now, was a different story. His body screamed for it, demanded it as the sun sapped his strength. They were so damn vulnerable when they slept.

Joseph and Zaladane's forces found it easy to find them. Sitting ducks who stuck out like a sore thumb. He's mostly shocked at how bad human senses were. How did these creatures live like this? He would only be more overbearing and more protective if he ever makes it back to the school. He heard nothing, smelled nothing. He would've murdered them all if he were himself. But in the Savage Lands, they were homo sapien. Rogue's crouched with a spear she had enough sense to sleep near, but these primitive men have weapons as well.

He's not sure what to think, he had convinced himself that this island was uninhabited. This meant that there was much more at play. He's up quickly but the damage is done. He and Rogue are pressed in the middle of a circle. Tall, tanned, muscular bodies. Some anthropomorphic animals. More akin to caveman than either have seen. "The outsiders have noticed us." A particularly ripped woman with frizzy red hair says. They are left in cloths, much like the pair was.

"Leave us alone, we mean_ no_ harm." Logan's already saying, slicing his knuckles open with his claws.

"We just ended up here." Rogue drawled, remembering what Remy's taught her of staff play to hold her spear. It's shaking in her grasp.

"You have been requested by leader." A disconcerting cross between a dinosaur and a human squawks. "_You,"_ They pointed a claw at Rogue.

"Not you." A huge man joins in, edging closer.

"Oh _hell_, why?!" She asks, mostly exasperated. Logan's growling and making a way in front of her. Even marooned on an island this happens to her.

"You are different." Someone says.

"Leader knows."

"Come with us-" Logan curses when Rogue throws an elbow behind her. She clears a path as the gathered crowd begins to move.

"This way, c'mon!" The short man is thrashing wildly, mostly hoping to scare the assailants off so he and Rogue can find somewhere more secluded to retreat. He doesn't want to kill in this strange land, but he'd do much more for the girl in front of him. Surviving everything they've been through and dying there was not an option. He snarls and gets behind her as the soldiers close in.

"Rogue, RUN!" Logan shouts behind her, scared to think why someone would want to get their hands on her in this wretched place. Sand is flying beneath them as the warriors hoot and holler behind. A winged mutate jumps to the air and pins Logan down into the sand with his claws. "KEEP GOIN-" She pauses and holds up her spear, ready to battle for her teammate. But, she feared the look in his eyes more than the strangers. "Go. _Now._"

"But-"

"ROGUE," A woman poises to throw her spear and Rogue just ducks and rolls out of the way. Cursing herself, Logan smiles as she takes off like a speeding bullet in the other direction. _'Atta girl, Rogue. Make 'em work for it.'_ Like one of them took care to say, they don't want him. They want to do something bad to her. She can give them a run for their money. He's praying she does.

Rogue's just running. Not thinking. Her surroundings a blur of green and tan. She doesn't see the body slam into her and send her over the cliff. _'No,'_ Luckily, she hears the sound of water before everything goes black.

"ROGUE," A broad chested man raised a club.

"Quiet, animal." A strike from that rendered his vision black. "Joseph will be pleased. Someone collect her from down there." Bodies moved to start scaling the cliff, the pterodactyl flying downwind. _'Rogue... God damn it...'_

* * *

_'But mostly... I just love to fly...' _All she sees is the sun when she opens her eyes. Her stomach is full of water, again. And, her head is killing her. She rolls over and wretches, an expert this time as she feels eyes beating down on her. She wipes her face with a shaking arm and tries to steel her face. She's not prepared for what she sees. Magneto with hair as long as her's.

She remembers, before her and Logan he had been thrown in the chasm. He'd been sent there, too (although, time seemed to work differently for him). Her hair had managed to get quite long, too. Bushy, fluffy curls from lack of straightening. She'd long trimmed her silver bangs straight in front of her face, they were getting too unruly. The lack of mirrors made her not care about her potentially bedraggled appearance.

Magneto looked... Strangely handsome. His youth retained from that machine she and Logan had intercepted, back when she was a child. Something about that evolution process left him ripped, standing chiseled and suntanned in front of her. He held a spear in his hand, but the way he was carrying himself she had to wonder if he could use his powers. She took a few moments to catch her breath._ "You..."_

He doesn't say anything, in fact he's looking at her like he doesn't recognize her. "The one I've felt." Rogue only quirks an eyebrow at that.

She never forgot the way he looked at her when she flew after him on Christmas eve. Stole his powers and tried to best him. After Mesmero controlled her, he didn't look at her again. He'd seen true evil in the dullness of her eyes, and the ability to end the world. He feared the girl as much as he respected her, but he never looked at her like this.

She sat up and marveled at wet, slightly tanned skin of her own. Logan had been making fun of how long it took her to tan. She frowns when she thinks of him, praying that he's okay. "Felt..." Rogue finally inquired. Her eyes grow wide when the nature ore in the ground began to shake and rattle, then raise through the air.

"You... You are one body, _two souls_. Are you not?" A woman produced herself behind him, dark eyes narrowed as her dress dragged along the beach. "A soul in one." Rogue's expression became dark.

"Ah don't see how that's either of ya_ business._" Rogue watched in amazement when the natural metals floated around her. It'd been forever since she'd seen a mutant ability.

"She is coming. Her presence is stronger, here." Fear gripped Rogue's heart. Her dreams, her every waking thought had been consumed by Carol. Her knowledge of the Astral Plane was limited, but if where she was affected that she was screwed. The vampire like woman folds her arms as Rogue realizes what they mean. Apocalypse sucked her through time, she could be on the Astral Plane for all she knew.

"Ah don't know who y-"

"Ms. Marvel." Rogue felt her heart stop in her chest. "What will you do?"

_Buildings were collapsed as Rogue flailed through the sky, tearing down structures with her unimaginable strength. Every time Rogue blinked, breathed, turned around she destroyed something. Broke it. Shattered it, her fists glowing with power. It didn't help that every memory in her head was rapidly fast forwarding through her mind. Kitty's Bat Mitzveh, Jean's first day of college and Scott and Alex's vacation. _

_And, that woman. The one, laying on the ground thanks to Mystique, she was shrieking and crying inside of Rogue's head. She thought her eardrums would burst. She smacked Mystique away from her and she did not rise. Toad and Sabretooth dare not approach her, seeing what her wild strength and insanity could do. She was just rampaging until the X-Men showed up and saw the fruits of Raven's labor. _

_"Rogue!" Her eyes are unrecognizable as she screams, the amount of her powers starting to take a life of it's own. The sky was black, the ground was cracking under her, and Logan didn't recognize what he was looking at. "Focus on-" He was flying through the air the next second._

"What do you mean what will Ah do?" Rogue struggles to her feet as she tries to shake the woman from her mind. "Ah... Ruined her life. Ah'm... Wherever Ah am and she's in an assisted living home. A-Ah... Not gonna_ fight_ her." Rogue rubbed her arms in discomfort. "If that's what ya mean. Maybe, if she is here... We can reach an understandin'. She can understand Ah'm sor-"

"The woman is a warrior." The strange woman spoke, looking Rogue up and down. "There will not _be_ an understanding."

"Only one of you will be a victor. Claim this body." Rogue looked down at herself in shock._ 'This body?'_

"You will fight." Zaladane says as Magneto sets his face. "For your right to_ live_. Or, let another take your life." It shouldn't have, but the choice seems impossible to her. Despite how much she's moved on from it, the moment would always haunt her. She'd rather have never been born than put Carol through what she did. She tried to leave the X-Men, run away, return south after everything because she didn't know who she was.

She doesn't want to die, she wants to live and make it back to her friends and family waiting for her. But, she won't kill the woman again. Neither of them can go through that. "Why did you bring me here? To _watch?_" The skinny woman raises an eyebrow.

"To see." She answers. "You shouldn't have powers here, but you used them. I felt it. You are special." She only scoffed and blew on silver bangs.

"Yeah, first time Ah heard_ that_. Sorry to disappoint..." The wind seemed to blow harder as she burned under the strange gazes, mostly naked as she stands in the rags of her uniform. "Ah..." An explosion erupts in the sand, and Rogue is sent careening into a log buried in the sand. The hit should've killed her since she is powerless, but in seconds, she's tossed the log aside as though it were a stick. _'Huh? Powers...'_

_"See,_ Joseph." Rogue looks at Magneto in shock, but she doesn't have time to address it. Nobody else is reacting, but she sees Carol Danvers, plain as day. Her skin his grey, her eyes milky and white. She looks dead, her spirit wasting away on the Astral Plane. Something about their reunion was giving her strength, back. _'Ah have to take advantage, but...'_ She didn't want to fight her.

The former Avenger, however, did. She could see it in her hateful, dark stare. That black uniform and mask hung off her in tatters. "Well, howdy_ 'sugah'._ Remember me?" Out of reflex, Rogue threw the massive log at her as it splintered around them. The psychic vampire Zaladane could see the battle like Rogue could, but Joseph saw nothing.

He just knew the confrontation was real, that the mutant in front of him was battling for the right to her powers and her life. He found it fascinating. "Is that all you've got?" The apparition hissed at her. "If so, I feel bad for you."

"No," Rogue responds quickly, sweat trailing down her head and chest. She's loving be able to fly, hurl shit, battle again instead of fight with weapons. But, she doesn't want to fight this woman. She never did_. 'M-Maybe... Maybe, Ah should finish her off._' She was a demonic version of herself, one Rogue knows doesn't represent her well. That she would never want to be seen in that light. That Rogue would rather die than ever be like.

She raises a fist but hesitates. The life force is going to her and killing Carol, slowly. Painfully_. 'Can't... Can't Ah fix this? Why does this have to happen to her?' _Charles wouldn't think so, he'd always taught her to find a way.

"She is no mutant." Zaladane taunts, smugly. "The life force chooses_ you_! Finish her!" She cried, grinning evilly while the woman battled.

"Ah _can't._..' Rogue says, her lip trembling. She wasn't a killer, so much of her life before this had been proving that.

"Then, you die." Joseph watches her closely. _'Would she trade her life to this ghost of a woman?' _

"There has to be another way." She suggests as Carol slowly stood.

"Fool!" In seconds, the tide turns and Rogue feels her power escaping her. Carol's hands are around her throat while she screamed. "Don't you get it? My above average Kree DNA? Your X-Gene,_ both_ our psyches..." She tightened her grip as she snarled and Rogue's face, feeling her beauty return. "We dont't have the sufficient life force to sustain us both! While one prospers, the other_ rots_!"

Rogue's scream whistles out hoarsely as Ms. Marvel throttled her, back and forth as sand flew. "I won't let it be me," Carol continued, her teeth bared. "_Not again!"_

_"Carol,"_ Rogue rasped, struggling to pry her hands free. It felt like her eyes would pop out at any second.

"You have _no idea_ what I went through... Out there, in the Astral Plane._ Waiting_ on the Shadow King to make good on his promise. I was almost gone for good, but he got you here," Grey eyes grow wide. She doesn't know who the Shadow King is, but he's powerful if he manipulated that Apocalypse confrontation to drag her here. "He's got beef with Mystique, and _I've_ got beef with you." Rogue clawed at her hands but they were indestructible.

_"Please..."_

"I will drain you dry, just like you left me! How's that for poetic!"

"Don't let other people pit us against each other, again-"

_"You_ did that, Rogue. I have no remorse. I have no mercy." Zaladane was furious. The mutant was supposed to win this conflict, she wielded the power they felt. If she wanted, Carol could be just a figment of the Astral Plane.

"Sorry girl," She hissed. _"Fight back!"_ Joseph watched in silence as Carol fought her way into Rogue's body.

"Ah can't..." She says, falling forward. "_It'd be like killing her again..." _Zaladane turns and walks away in a huff, leaving Magneto to watch alone. He wasn't angry, he was intrigued. A rustle through the leaves ahead stole his attention. A man with claws and blood covered hands appeared, tracking tedious footprints all the way there.

"I'm sick and tired of..." Logan's silenced by the sight of Magneto standing there and Rogue collapsed on the ground. He gets to her side, instantly, claws reaching for the mutant in front of him._ "YOU_," When he tries to leap for him, he feels the familiar pull of the magnetist's powers.

"I did nothing. Ms. Marvel," Logan looks down at the girl gathered in his arms, one who's been plagued by visions and dreams for the better part of their time there. He's heard Charles speak of the Astral Plane, but he prays this has nothing to do with it. "She has gathered enough strength to confront her. The life force of one can not sustain both with such vitality."

Logan's flipped Rogue and is peering into her face, shaking as he watched her become a terrifying, colorless shade. "No..." He knew that with his abilities, there was nothing he could do for her there, even with his powers. He looked around with crazed eyes, but as he thought he saw nothing. "No! What do we do?_ What's happening_?"

The strange Magneto frowned at him in the sun. "She won't fight back." The white haired man winced when their eyes met. Logan's eyes could cut diamonds right now, because he wouldn't doubt that for a second. "Despite having more agency in the real world than her, her reluctance to battle... Her _compassion_ will not allow her to defend her life. In my time here," Logan's covering his face. "I've seen nothing like it. Such strength, such unwillingness to use it."

He turned frantically to the girl in his arms. _"C'mon_, Rogue. I know you don't want to hurt a fly, but we can't lose you. I can't lose you right now." He shook her helplessly in his arms, but she was dead weight. Limp. Her lips were turning a startling shade of blue. Out of reflex, he touched her like he could heal her or like it would work.

"Your healing factor can't save her where she is. She's battling for her soul." The words make him cry out in frustration. He's always gone where she does, afraid he wouldn't keep her from making some mistake. One like this. "If she won't fight..."

"She _doesn't_ understand," Logan groans, his hands digging into the sand. _"Marie..."_

"She knows the stakes." Joseph clutches a fist. "She still won't..." Now, he seemed to be getting frustrated like Zaladane. She was a remarkable mutant. Logan was brushing silver hair out of her face and rocking back and forth as the Magneto imposter watched.

"Marie..._ Please. Fight."_ He doesn't look up when the white haired man waved a hand, scattering a purple electromagnetic field over the atmosphere.

_'If I can just sense her energy's movements...'_ Logan was nearly frothing, waving his claws to find any trace of Carol. If she couldn't do it, he'd do it himself. He wasn't watching her die thousands of miles from home.

"Sorry, Carol..." All he felt was the wind blow. He didn't feel a thing._ 'What do I...'_ Luckily for them, Magneto saw it as clear as day. For a second, the vicious woman with her hands around Rogue's throat._ 'There!'_ In a flash, his power exploded right in front of the stout man's face. Moments later, Rogue rocketed up with a scream. He retracted his claws and grabbed her when she began to gasp and sob.

"Oh_ god,_" She screamed, her face pushed to his sweat soaked chest. Her hand flies up to her throat as she wheezed. "She was _chokin' the life out of m_e, she's here!" Logan wrapped her as tight as his arms would allow, his eyes stuck on Magneto. He offered no explanation for a while, just staring as they shook in each other's embrace. "God... Ah wanted to make amends, but Ah... Ah'll_ never_ make it right.."

"Shhh, girl." Logan stroked her hair. "Catch your breath." He pulled away and looked intently into her face. "I'm here."

"One has to think this was a test, and if it was, this mutant passed." Rogue looked at her own hands in horror as Magneto spoke.

"B-But... If Ah'm_ here_..." She looked up at the man in shock. "You killed her." He doesn't answer. "She didn't deserve that."

"I would've done the same, Rogue." She knows he would've, but she wishes she didn't have to have this on her hands. "Couldn't watch that happen."

"Your compassion is needed in a place as savage as this one." Magneto says cryptically when they stand. Rogue rubbed her face, still breathing heavily and anchored around the former Weapon X project.

"You... Don't remember us. Or, anything. _Do you_?" She asked after a while. The old Magneto would not have called her 'compassionate' or even saved her life. He shook his head no, realizing they had known each other long before. Logan isn't sure what to say. Even if he's thankful, he's not about to thank Magneto for anything.

"Be weary." He says as they prepared to move, hands tangled hopelessly in the other's. They would be sure on that.


	7. More At Work

Kurt stared at blue hands, gripping a warm cup of coffee that Ororo had lovingly placed in them. He knows his friends and teammates are worried, but he can't help it. He's unsure how much time has passed, if it's even worth thinking about anymore. Sometimes, he hopes desperately his friends are alive and fighting their way back. Others, he prayed for peace and for them to not be endlessly suffering, stranded. Awaiting a rescue they cannot make.

Mostly, he stayed in his thoughts. Hank and Kitty continued to tinker, Forge had moved in to help. Charles still managed to be hopeful, but he stayed by Cerebro's side and used the machine like never before. It was not the future he imagined the telepath telling them about after that final battle. The mansion a shadow of itself, dozens and dozens of students feeling orphaned.

Then, Wanda Maximoff appeared. The twin offspring of Magneto usually spent their time in Genosha, looking over what he fought to establish so he could train New Recruits for the horrors to come, the things he saw in his time as a horseman. It'd been too painful for them to return, none had saw his sacrifice coming. Even with his reformed ways.

Kurt studied her makeup-less face in shock, short brown locks just above her shoulders. She looked..._ Normal._ Maybe, in light of what's happened, she hadn't the energy to keep her look up. The thoughts sober the shapeshifter's son. His tail swishes with anticipation as she looks at him with icy eyes. "V-_Vanda?_" He studied the dark red cami and pants it looked like Jean might wear.

"Yo." She walks in without invitation, eyeing the no longer steaming up of tea. "I need your professor. I..." Her hands glow red as he watches, wide eyed. "I _felt_ something." His tail almost sticks straight up.

_"You felt something."_ She nods.

"I don't know what, but... Maybe he can-"

_'Wanda. Kurt._' Jean's voice chimed in their heads (much to Wanda's disgust)._ 'The professor says he found something, on Cerebro. He says he felt your father's signature._' Without waiting, Kurt grabbed Wanda's hand and ported them both to the Cerebro control center. Wanda shivers when he feet plant on solid land, Charles sitting with his machine in front of them. Jean was beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

"Wanda. Kurt."

"You felt something?" The brunette starts forward, ignoring Jean's stare. The tired psychic nods.

"Magneto's powers flared... Miles away from where he, Rogue, and Logan disappeared." Her fist grips tight. She knew the X-Men had combed over those grounds. So had she, Pietro, and forces sent from Genosha. The earth was salted, dead where Apocalypse exerted his power. And, no trace of the missing.

"You _know_ nothing will be there. I knew this was nothing." Jean can feel her frustration simmering.

"Maybe not," She says, smoothing out a short, yellow t shirt. "I think Cerebro sensing his powers proves he's alive, somewhere_ else._ A Bermuda triangle situation. Kitty and Hank think it has to do with the magnetic poles' positions. They're close to cracking it, we think..." She looked at the bald man, focused intently on the graphics Cerebro was creating.

"We think you may be the last piece of the puzzle." He turned to face the girl, her natural hair surprising him. "We have location, tireless scientific research... But there is something _more_ at work, here." Kurt marveled the girl and wondered about her truly unexplainable powers. He still had no idea what she could do, exactly.

"Your powers, they can warp reality." She looks annoyed by Jean's declaration, but nods.

"I try not to. But, I _could._" Is Wanda's haughty response.

"Reality may be the key _to reaching_ your father and our missing teammates." She drops folded arms when he looks at her, pleadingly. "Will you help us?" She stepped closer to the wheelchair bound man.

"Of course."

* * *

Maybe, around the two-month mark, they resigned to their fate. They were lucky to live on a (mostly) nice island, together. Powerless. Touching. They were lucky to be alive after facing Apocalypse. This was their second chance. Maybe they didn't have everyone, but they had _each other._ They would have to take it. The girl in front of him was the only thing helping him through this. She was all he had.

"It was terrible, Logan... She, _her face._.." He pulled trembling skin close to him as they hid in the mouth of a cave, a waterfall flowing over the opening. "Sh-She... Wherever she was, she didn't have enough life to sustain her. S-She was decaying, and..." It all sounded like some terrible dream. A nightmare even he can't imagine. It'd really happened, somehow harder than the initial event to deal with.

"Honey," He says tenderly, brushing frizzy curls out of her eyes. He can hardly help himself after being pressed against her for weeks on end. Smelling her, even without his heightened senses. Feeling her close to him, the only thing tethering him to his humanity. "Stop torturin' yourself." He understands why she's angry with herself. Guilty. It's why he loves her, so much. But, if Magneto hadn't he would've found a way to save her, himself. And, he won't apologize for it. He tilts her chin up and looks at her with sad eyes. "It hurts too much to watch."

"But, Ah..." He too lived with the guilt of blood on his hands. Their screams weren't recorded in his head, but he remembered all the same. Before he can think about it, he presses her through a stream of falling water. He has always failed at words where she excelled (he loved watching her expel hick theories). The girl's only friends had been books. She's well read and studied, intelligent, and had a vocabulary as large as Hank's. His words cannot keep up with hers, but maybe he can show her how feels. What he sees when he's with her.

She's equal parts confused and relieved she isn't fabricating the tension she's felt. The deep want of wanting to touch him, too. They are both soaked as their lips finally make union. This is nothing compared to the feverish kisses she stole from Remy with the aid of an inhibitor collar. Those were heaven but also hell. The collar stung, and after his departure she bothered no more with it. Logan had never been so proud. Just like everything else, with this man she's able to express her insurmountable love without pain. Because even if he wanted nothing more than her kiss he'd go without it before he_ ever_ collared her.

And that's why this felt right when so many others would think it wrong. He is the only one who's never betrayed her. Who's love has never wavered and never been selfish. The only painless thing in her life. "_Logan-_" She lets a heavy body take her down, frogs leaping from lily pads as they continue to kiss in shallow water. It was like a fairytale when they weren't missing home. She felt so selfish for thinking this, but this was perfect. No other circumstances would've resulted in discovering the feelings that have always been in front of her. That though this knight might never ask, he knew her better than anyone else was able to.

He mashes his lips to hers when she tries to talk. She wouldn't talk herself out of this. Ruin the moment. It was right. It was all they had. He lets her roll him in the water, slender fingers trailing down his body as he breathes. He leans up to meet her face when she cranes down, deceptively full lips (always hidden by makeup) teasing his. Wet, soft curls tickling his skin as he feels himself ripple with want and finally not shame. _"Marie-"_

Part of her rags begin to slide down her shoulder when the sky turns red. His mutation is gone but his animal instincts aren't. If he was protective over Rogue before there's no telling what he's capable of now. Already growling, they watch as a red rift forms right in front of their eyes. Something had found them and it's either friend or foe. He presses her almost exposed chest tight to him, daring someone to come between them.

"Wha..." Rogue's almost too hopeful to think it's Wanda's magic. It'd been so long since they'd imagined seeing their friends and family. They must be beyond reach to them. But then they heard muffled voices.

_"Almost... Is that-"_

The hex shatters and several bodies stand on the beach. Staring into the waterfall in mounting joy (and shock) to the pair straddled in the water. Kitty and Kurt are already poised to cry, worried least of all by what they see and that their friends are_ alive_. Breathing. Waiting for them. They splash through the waters despite ignoring obvious questions. Both Jean and Scott's mouths are dropped open as Wanda looks frantically for her father.

"H-He's... Alright, _isn't he?_" Who knows what happens in this land.

"The professor felt him, Wanda..." The four are now all sitting in the water laughing and crying as Scott slowly approaches. She knows what she saw and most importantly felt. She's happy for them both. Logan had a chance with Ororo but he "spared" her by not treating her like an adult who can make her own decisions and decided what she can handle. Rogue took Remy harder than hard and refused to sacrifice the place she belonged for it (maybe even Logan all along). She does the mental math quick and Scott will take far longer, but the more she thinks the better she feels about it. "We'll find him. Don't worry."


End file.
